MISSOULA -- The Montana men's basketball team fell to No. 25 Washington 73-56 on Friday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Kendal Manuel led Montana with 15 points on 6-for-17 shooting while Sayeed Pridgett added 13 points. Washington star freshman Isaiah Stewart led the game with 18 points even though he played just 15 minutes due to foul trouble. Jaden McDaniels added 14 points for the Huskies.
Montana looked sharp at points as it grabbed a 32-31 lead two minutes into the second half off of a 3-pointer from Pridgett. But an off night of shooting coupled with fouls made life difficult for UM down the stretch as the Grizzlies fell to 1-4 on the season. In total, Montana was 19 for 57 (33.3 percent) from the field and 9 for 22 (40.9 percent) from deep. However, Montana was called for 33 total fouls as Pridgett and Derrick Carter-Hollinger (three points in 22 minutes) each fouled out.
Four other Grizzlies had four fouls each as Montana played with just nine available players. Washington shot 46 free throws, making 35, and was called for 18 fouls. Washington also went 19 for 42 (45.2 percent) from the field and caused 20 Griz turnovers.
Washington jumped to a 9-0 lead to start the game, but Montana quickly responded with a 9-0 run of its own to tie the game. From there, the Grizzlies wound up trailing 24-13 with 6:55 to go in the first half before trimming the deficit to 31-29 by halftime.
Montana's defense held Washington to an 0-for-11 performance from beyond the arc and also forced 21 Husky turnovers.
Eddy Egun and Carter-Hollinger each grabbed six rebounds for Montana. Timmy Falls, who made his first start of the season, led the Grizzlies with four assists.
Also of note, grad transfer Jared Samuelson made his season debut after missing the first four games due to a knee injury. Samuelson, who played the first two years of his career at UM before transferring to Rocky Mountain College in Billings for two seasons, played seven minutes and went 0 for 3 from the field while also grabbing one rebound. Samuelson was also called for two fouls.
Montana's next game is Monday at home against Texas Southern. Former Grizzly Karl Nicholas, who played for Montana in 2017-18, currently suits up for Texas Southern.
